Rann screamed. It was a pretty frustrated scream. Then the pains began. She did a lot of work on his mind in the next minute.
That part of him that was Conan held on like a clam holding to its precious contents.
The odor of putrid flesh returned. The blood mist returned. The flame birds fell down at him in spirals of sparks and blistering smoke, to winnow his naked ribs.
Starke spoke one last word before the blackness took him.
"Beudag."
He never expected to awaken again.
He awoke just the same.
There was red sea all around him. He lay on a kind of stone bed, and the young sea shepherd sat beside him, looking down at him, smiling delicately.
Starke did not dare move for a while. He was afraid his head might fall off and whirl away like a big fish, using its ears as propellers. "Lord," he muttered, barely turning his head.